Driver's £50,000 DHL criminal sting unravelled by Amazon

A delivery driver who stole more than £53,000 worth of parcels in just three months has walked free from court because of 'prison overcrowding'.

Steven Black repeatedly stole valuable goods from the DHL depot where he worked but was caught after bosses became suspicious about the missing parcels.

Black, from Salford, walked free from court after a judge heard his wife is in poor health and if he was sent straight to jail she and their son would be at risk of losing their home.

READ MORE: Met Office issues amber heavy snow warning for parts of Greater Manchester

Judge Stuart Driver KC said a recent Court of Appeal ruling referred to prison overcrowding which he said amounts to an emergency and is a reason for suspending prison sentences.

Kate Morley, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Black had been employed via an agency as a delivery driver for DHL for about 17 months.

“DHL managers were investigating missing parcels sent by Royal Mint that had been going missing since December 2021," she said. "Their enquiries highlighted that the parcels were going missing from the Speke depot.

“They had reviewed CCTV footage from the Speke depot from February and April 26 last year and had seen the defendant acting suspiciously, in that he was picking up small packages from the conveyor belt and looking closely at the labels, which contain sender details and sometimes a description.

“They saw him take items from the conveyer belt without scanning them. As a result of that, the defendant essentially became a suspect,” she said.

Investigations revealed that Black had been repeatedly stealing items including ten Britannia 10z gold coins worth almost £15,000 and gold jewellery from Bulgaria with a value of £23,588. His haul